by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez doesn't know when he'll ready to play baseball again. He's not talking about his role in baseball's ongoing investigation into the Biogenesis clinic.

Other than that, "It's good to be back," the injured Yankees third baseman said before opening day at Yankee Stadium.

But Rodriguez was not ready to measure how he rates in the Yankees' court of public opinion.

Unlike first baseman Mark Teixeira, out with an injured wrist, Rodriguez opted not to be introduced before Monday's opener. Shortstop Derek Jeter and center fielder Curtis Granderson, both still in Florida rehabbing injuries, were not present.

"When I get introduced, I want to be on the field," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, who was not at spring training while rehabbing from hip surgery in December, spent the day with his teammates before returning to private workouts.

Then, minutes after retiring and revered closer Mariano Rivera regaled reporters at a podium during a press conference, Rodriguez debriefed reporters wedged into a scrum just outside the Yankee clubhouse, A-Rod's first public comments since undergoing hip surgery and getting tied to baseball's latest doping scandal.

"We're at the beginning of Stage 1," was Rodriguez's description of his recovery, though he did say of returning sometime this season, "That's the plan."

That return could be clouded by Rodriguez's inclusion on a list of players linked to Biogenesis and performance enhancing drugs in a Miami New Times report in January.

Rodriguez said he has met with investigators but said, "I'm not going to further discuss it. At some point, everything will be good."

Rodriguez's 2012 season ended with him on the bench after producing just three singles in 25 postseason at-bats. The discovery later of a torn labrum and an impingement in his left hip, not the hip that was surgically repaired before the 2009 season, at least partially explained his struggles.

"It was a bit of a relief understanding it," Rodriguez said. "If we had known, we would have never had that difficult ending. Live and learn."

Rodriguez, 37, said he is confident he can re-discover his previous success.